Aaron Rodgers announces his intention to join the New York Jets after 18 seasons in Green Bay Packers
An A-bomb from A-Rod is about to take on a whole new meaning in the tri-state area.
Aaron Rodgers joined The Pat McAfee Show and cleared it up: he told the Green Bay Packers on Friday that he wants to play for the New York Jets.
According to Rodgers, the holdup is the compensation that the Packers want for him. He made his intentions clear.
Aaron Rodgers—whose "intentions are to play for the New York #Jets," the AFC East Undertaker, and Minister of Darkness—emerges from the depths to annihilate new divisional foes.
“Oh bah gawd, it’s carnage!” pic.twitter.com/sIv4orHhg5
— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) March 15, 2023
Rodgers explained that when he went into the darkness, he was 90% of the way toward retirement. When he returned, though, he discovered that the Packers had moved on from him.
Ultimately, that may have been the deciding factor that made him choose to return.
Though his off-field behavior has proven slightly polarizing, the 39-year-old Rodgers has been one of the most accomplished NFL quarterbacks in recent memory, amassing 59,055 yards and 475 touchdown passes since succeeding fellow Green Bay and New York alum Brett Favre as the Packers’ primary passer.
Rodgers entered the NFL as the 24th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft and has set numerous NFL records including the highest single-season passer rating for a starting quarterback (122.5 in 2011) and the most consecutive attempts without throwing an interception (402 in 2018). He also helped guide the Packers to their fourth and most recent Super Bowl title after the 2010-11 season, earning MVP honors in the game’s 45th edition.
When he comes to the Jets, Rodgers will immediately stand as one of the most lauded names the star-crossed Jets franchise has ever had at quarterback. The team’s post-Joe Namath passing history has played a major role in its lack of sustained success and that was particularly apparent last season, which convinced the Jets to move away from incumbent franchise man Zach Wilson after two seasons.
For example, Rodgers has already reached the 4,000-yard plateau on 10 occasions, whereas the plethora of New York quarterbacks throughout the years have only done so once (Namath in 1967). Rodgers has also thrown at least 30 touchdown passes in a single year eight times, with, again, only one New Yorker matching him (Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2015).
Rodgers’ lack of recent postseason success (failing to get back to the Super Bowl since that win over Pittsburgh) has caused some to worry about his lasting potential as a franchise thrower. Critics will also no doubt recall the last time the Jets hitched their hopes to a Lambeau Field legend in Favre, whose sterling start in New York gave way to one of the most notorious collapses in NFL history: the 2008-09 Jets began the year 8-3 before dropping four of their final five, a stretch capped off by a loss to former franchise man Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins. Favre was released by the Jets after the season, leading the team to draft Mark Sanchez in the following draft.
But even as the Packers floundered to an 8-9 record in 2022-23 (missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018), Rodgers maintained solid statistics, ranking seventh in touchdown passes (26) and posting a 91.1 passer rating (the lowest of his career as a full-time starter).
New York, however, seems well built for success: despite the Wilson-based controversy at quarterback, the Jets mustered seven wins and made an unexpected playoff push thanks to the efforts of rookies Sauce Gardner, Breece Hall, and Garrett Wilson.
Jets fans everywhere, rejoice. Rodgers will be a New York Jet.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
